McAvoy in pole position in membership race

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UNTIL now it is teachers rather than their union bosses who have laboured under the yoke of league tables.

A TES survey of returns just submitted to the Certification Office for Trade Unions and Employers' Associations in London aims to put that right.

Doug McAvoy, fresh from his victory in the National Union of Teachers ballot, will be doubly pleased to learn that he has beaten his old rival Nigel de Gruchy at the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers in 1998's rankings: he added 9,684 members to his books compared to Mr de Gruchy's 4,851.

But top is Peter Smith of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, who won 14,684 extra teachers last year, reversing year-on-year falls in his union's membership since 1995.

Mr Smith also leads the salary league with a generous pound;82,253 per annum, compared to Mr de Gruchy's pound;65,460 (with a pound;4,172 car allowance) and Mr McAvoy's pound;74,664 with pound;542 in luncheon vouchers.

However, the three men, who have dominated the teacher union landscape in the 1990s, are likely to take most interest in their long term "value-added" figures.

Mr McAvoy's recruiting sergeants have added 71,828 members since 1991, a 33 per cent rise, and de Gruchy's an extra 70,846, or 39 per cent. Given the interest in performance-related pay, Mr Smith will be keen to improve on his 29,456-person rise, a relatively meagre 21 per cent increase.

Kay Driver, who became head of the Professional Association of Teachers during 1998, clearly has her work cut out after a 4,149 fall during the year. The union appears to be suffering a squeeze from its rivals, losing more than a quarter of its membership since 1995.

The other new entrant, John Dunford at the Secondary Heads Association, saw a 183-person fall in membership over the past year, and old-stager David Hart - who has headed the National Association of Head Teachers for 20 years - lost 3,296 people.